The Dublin Region Homeless Executive is provided by Dublin City Council as the lead local authority in the response to homelessness in Dublinand adopts a shared service approach across South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

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Update on Rapid Build Housing at Baile Na Laochra

Mar 30, 2016

Update on Rapid Build Housing at Baile Na Laochra

Dublin City Council confirms that the 22 Rapid Build Housing Units, Baile na Laochra, Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 are now substantially completed, whilst works to finish the entire estate including assigned certification and snagging is expected to conclude during April 2016.

Dublin City Council’s Homeless Central Placement Service (CPS) are placing families in the new units in April 2016. The CPS are currently working to ensure suitability of placement, considering key elements such as vicinity to local schools and existing family supports.

The 22 rapid build houses are two-storey units, with three bedrooms, will provide high quality temporary accommodation for families who are experiencing homelessness and who are currently accommodated in commercial hotels by the local authority, on an emergency basis.

This intervention offers a viable alternative to the unsustainable use of commercial hotels as an emergency response to avoid the need to sleep rough in respect of children and families. As of February (week of 22nd – 28th) there were 790 families in emergency homeless accommodation. To see the latest infographclick here

Preparatory works (site servicing works) to prepare for further Rapid Build Housing schemes will commence in April for Drimnagh, Ballyfermot, Finglas and in Belcamp (on the Malahide Road) during July. It is anticipated these units will be completed by end 2016.

The four Dublin local authorities are working towards the further delivery of a further 350 units approximately across the Dublin region to address the temporary accommodation needs of families in commercial hotels.

Simultaneously, with the Rapid Build Housing programme, it should be noted that the following key activity and critical actions are continuing in the response to family homelessness in the Dublin region, including;

Tenancies in 2015 - 1,059tenancies were achieved in the Dublin region in 2015 for people who are experiencing homelessness. Of the 1,059 tenancies, 485 were local authority lettings and 112 tenancies were provided through the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Pilot.

Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Pilot - Continued strengthening of the HAP pilot accommodation sourcing team through the Dublin Place Finder Service, managed by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. To date, 183 households have moved on from homeless emergency accommodation into tenancies through this vital housing support/

Preventing Private Rented Tenancy Loss - continued prevention of families accessing homeless services through the successful work of the Tenancy Protection Service, provided by Threshold on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities. Since its inception in June 2014 (to end December 2015), the Tenancy Protection Service, provided by Threshold on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities had 7,514 contacts from families and individuals in need of assistance. It is calculated that 1,905 tenancies have been protected as a result of this joint Department of Social Protection, Dublin local authority and Tenancy Protection Service intervention.

Supported Family Accommodation - Continued expansion of self- contained supported temporary accommodation for families experiencing homelessness, in order to divert away from the use of commercial hotels.

Housing Allocation Directive for Homeless Priority Households- The Dublin local authorities continue to implement the ministerial directive which requires that 50% of allocations are utilised for homeless households and other vulnerable groups

25 New Homeless Action Team Staff- with the levels of families presenting to homeless services remaining such a daily challenge, the rate of support planning has decreased in large part due the logistical difficulty of accessing families as they were disbursed throughout the region in commercial hotels. The local authorities are responding to this through the increase of the Focus Ireland staff resource for the family Homeless Action Team (HAT) to 25 to improve and speed up the support planning and interventions for vulnerable families.

Tusla - A Homelessness Liaison Officer has recently been appointed with Tusla with the remit of co-ordinating child and family resources to dedicated supported family accommodation settings, particularly in relation to child protection. The Homelessness Liaison Officer links with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive around access for children and families to Family Resource Centres. It also provides guidance for Home School Community Liaison and School Completion staff on helping children and families experiencing homelessness to maintain regular school attendance. School Completion Programmes have been asked to prioritise homeless children for services such as breakfast and homework clubs.